For the second time this season, Ireland and Johnny Sexton are tasked with halting a seemingly unstoppable rugby juggernaut.
Back in November, nobody gave Joe Schmidt’s team much chance of beating the All Blacks and stopping the world champions from making history.
We all know how that went. On a historic day in Chicago, Ireland beat New Zealand for the first time and prevented Steve Hansen’s side from going a record 19 Test matches unbeaten.
Memorable moment in Chicago https://t.co/J0nxVTFotD
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) December 22, 2016
Fast forward four months and Ireland once more find themselves staring down the barrel of an 18-game unbeaten streak. England come to the Aviva in search of history on two fronts: that 19-game streak that proved beyond even the mighty All Blacks and the first back-to-back Grand Slams of the Six Nations era.
While the All Blacks may have been distracted somewhat by the strange venue and the Cubs’ celebrations, Eddie Jones’ side are frighteningly focussed on their task.
The Australian has not tasted defeat since taking over in the wake of the disastrous 2015 World Cup and, as Donncha O’Callaghan explained on The Hard Yards, this group are united and motivated like few England teams of the last decade.
Speaking at the Ireland team announcement on Thursday, Ireland out-half Jonathan Sexton spoke honestly about the scale of the task facing Ireland against an England side who put 61 points on Scotland in their last game.
“They have equalled the All Blacks unbeaten record. That speaks for itself. This team has been together for six years now. They are going for back-to-back Grand Slams.
“Stuart [Lancaster] and Andy [Farrell] built this team after the 2011 World Cup and they’ve stuck together. They have been through ups and downs and they are reaping the rewards of that from last season’s Grand Slam all the way through to now.”
Interesting to hear Sexton, who has some previous with Jones, credit Lancaster and current Ireland assistant Farrell with building this team, but when asked if Ireland are facing a challenge on a par with the All Blacks he did not hesitate.
“Yeah, you’ve got to say that, especially consistency-wise. I think we can say we can beat these teams. But, we haven’t come near to 18 wins in a row. That’s what we need to aspire to be like. We can worry about that after Saturday,” said Sexton.
“We’re playing against the second best team in the world and some would argue they could be the best. They haven’t played the All Blacks yet. We’re going to have to be at our best.”
With pride, Lions places and history on the line, Saturday promises to be a clinker.
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